SUPERBOWL XLIV

After 16 weeks of regular season and three weeks of play offs, SUPER BOWL Sunday arrived. Unfortunately the San Diego Chargers were not one of the teams playing. Instead the NFC Champion New Orleans Saints were facing the Indianapolis Colts. I guess if the Charger were no there my next favorite team would be the Colts (Peyton Manning and all his dorky cuteness)

Steve was off this week after having to work Super Bowl Sunday for the last 3. We decided it would be a great time for us to host. After attending our church meetings in the morning we came home and got into some comfortable, football watching clothes and finished prepping food. All 3 families would be bringing soups and I was providing hot wings, Stromboli, veggie tray, guacamole and other snacky food. We had soooooo much food, but with 12 children between the 3 couples much of it was eaten before the somewhat disappointing halftime show began.

Steve made a chart for us all to put our names in different boxes to predict what the winning score was. There was a silly prize for the person who chose the correct final score. It was a different way to get everyone involved, even the kids who were not much interested in the actual game, but had more interest in the food and foodies that were laying out waiting to be devoured by them.
The game was OK, commercials were mediocre, the halftime show I seriously did not enjoy. But the best part was spending a few hours with the Nighs and the Duves we have been doing this with them for 5 years. I feel so blessed to have such good friends that get our jokes and humor and I can just be myself around. It helps to make for a GREAT evening.
When the game was over...thee Colts(Peyton Manning the Cute Dorky QB) lost and the New Orleans Saints had the big WIN... we chose the winner of the game. Brecken won the good bag which consisted of a foam football (blue, good for either the Colts or Chargers), a pair of goofy novelty glasses and a whistle shaped like a football. Brecken was a good sport and donned the glasses and held the other gear for me to get my bog worthy picture..thanks Brecken.

It was a fabulous evening, can't believe we will have to wait 364 days to do it all over again. Maybe my wonderful Chargers won't choke in the play offs and will be the team I am cheering for next year.

SUPERBOWL XLIII

I have taken a month off from blogging. I just needed a little break, but I think I am ready to get back to taking pictures of the kids and the things we do. And then post all our happening here to share with our wonderful friends and family. Yesterday, after a great day of church, the kids and I changed out of our church clothes and packed up some goodies and the taco soup I had made and headed over to the Duve's home. This was our 5th year getting together with the Duves and the Nighs I watch the SuperBowl. I really did not have anything invested in either team, but planned to root for the underdog.
Ryan tivoed the game so we could watch it after Steve got done with work. The adults went down to the basement with our chips & guacamole, brownies and sodas then found a comfortable spot to plop and enjoy the game. Luckily there were commercials to entertain us during the first half, because the game was kind of boring. Then during the second half we were on the edge of our seats. We were especially excited when it appeared the Cardinals had a chance to win. Unfortunately that was short lived after a Steelers touch down in the final minute.

Most of the kids, each couple has 4, stayed up on the main floor and played "Gray Wolf" and "Cops and Robbers". They did not have much interest in the game, but sure enjoyed the opportunity to play with each other.
I love watching any football game (especially the CHARGERS), but I have especially enjoyed getting together with our good friends once a year to share the excitementof the BIG GAME!!!.

GOOD FOOD, GOOD TIMES and GOOD FRIENDS!!!

STEVE'S CHRISTMAS PRESENT

In September I came up with a great Christmas present for Steve. I decided I would get him tickets to a Chargers (his fav football team) game. I went online and discovered that they played a home game the Sunday after Christmas against the Broncos...that was perfect.

So I began searching or tickets. I went on ebay and stubhub, but couldn't find decent seats at a reasonable price. And I still needed to arrange for Steve to take a vacation day in order for the whole thing to work. I tried to be sneaky, but it didn't get me very far.
Before I knew it, it was October and I still had no tickets and the Chargers season wasn't looking very good. But I was plowing ahead with my plans. I went to the team's website and checked for tickets. There was actually a pair of Plaza tickets for less than I was planning to pay, so I scooped those up. Finally Steve did get the vacation time off , but not until I came straight out and told him what the plan was.
So speed ahead to 2 days after Christmas...we flew into San Diego and spent the day before the game seeing some of the places that we remembered from when we lived there. Then Sunday arrived...GAME DAY!!! We parked at Fashion Valley Mall and took the Trolley to QualComm just after 1:00 pm. We checked out all the tailgaters, Steve ran into the Charger Girls and was willing to let them take their picture with him. We went to the Charger Store and shopped and before long we were let into the stadium and could see exactly where we were sitting. We spent an hour taking pictures of the stadium, the team warming up and I even took a few minutes to meet up with an old friend from high school and his wife.
Then SUNDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL began.
The feeling in the stadium was electric. We were sitting around some fun people. Every time the Chargers scored or did something cool we were bombarded with high-5s. Steve would occasionally chanted, "LT-LT-LT" It was so incredibly exciting.
I think of everything we saw that day and experienced...for me the best was looking at Steve. When we walked into the stadium he was like a boy who had found his way into Santa's workshop. Throughout the game he cheered, sang, screamed, yelled...to the point that when we left he was hoarse and could hardly speak. I knew that my gift was perfect and something he would remember for years to come!!!

When the game ended, the Charger's record was 8-8 and they were officially the AFC West Champs. The team was probably already thinking ahead to the next Sunday and getting ready to take on Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts. No one knew what that game would hold, but in that moment the Chargers were winners and there were 69,131 ecstatic fans.

San Diego Super Chargers/Dress Shopping

WoooHoooo...We are very happy today. They Chargers beat the Colts yesterday. We came home from church at noon once all of our meetings were over and began watching the game that was already in progress. All I can say is the Chargers ROCKED!!! They had LT on the bench for most of the game. They even lost their QB to injury in the 4th quarter, but still managed to hold the COLTS back and get their win to move on. Next week they play the Patriots. We would REALLY like to see the Chargers beat the Patriots. Our family has been fans of both teams, but would really like to see the Chargers get all the way to the SuperBowl!!

On to a GIRLIE subject... I have gone dress shopping a couple of times in the past few weeks. I want to find a couple of "nicer" dresses to wear on our cruise next month. Steve is going to be dressed in tux (hubba-hubba) and it sure would be nice to play "dress up" while we are gone. I so rarely get the chance or excuse to dress up so nice, so I would really like to take advantage of the opportunity.

Since I have lost a little weight and dropped a dress size it has been fun to try on the clothes. I love the long evening dresses, but was unable to find one that would cover up everything that needed to be covered. I did try on one halter dress to see what it would look like. HOLY COW!!! It showed everything. I actually think I didn't look to bad, but there is NO WAY I could wear it. I did find a couple of short dresses that I think might fit the bill. I love the grey and black dress, it has a little sparkle to it. My next fav is the red one. There is just something about a red dress that I just love. Pop said I look like I walked out of the 50's, not sure if that is a good thing. Then the brown reminds me of Jackie O, minus the pill box hat, but I love the way it fit. I am still keeping my eyes peeled for a longer evening dress, but if I don't I feel pretty good that I will make a pretty companion standing next to Steve.